Yes, here I am finally … back from our motorcycle trip with a recipe for gluten-free and lovely London Broil!
But first, let me tell you about our trip. We returned Monday evening, but it’s taken me this long to “re-enter” normal life! LOL The trip was a great one and I promise to share lots of info, specifically, the gluten-free food I experienced, but for now, I’ll just share a few quick trip stats and a little trivia of sorts.
We traveled 11 days; visited 10 states; spent 4 nights in ME, 3 nights in PA, 1 night in NY, 1 night in NH, 1 night in MA; stayed at 8 B&Bs; stayed at 2 hotels; visited 3 groups of friends; had 1 day of heavy rain (4 inches—that halted our trip overnight); saw 1 moose (and got photos!); packed two pairs of jeans each, three casuals shirts each, and one dress shirt each; took 1 new camera; purchased 3 items; enjoyed 8 excellent to stellar dinners; ate 8 breakfasts that included eggs; ate 3 lobster meals; ate 1 fast food meal (last day on interstate); traveled 5 miles of dirt roads due to road construction (one lane at a time, near the precipice … with no guard rail). My favorite billboard along the way:
Recession 101 “Economic forecasts tend to be shovel-ready.”
Also, I just learned a saying that rang true regarding our road travel in New England:
“There are two seasons in the north: winter and road work.”
There was a lot of road work going on and lots of roads that needed road work. I guess with the winters you northern folks get, plus cutbacks on road maintenance due to the economy, it’s pretty understandable that any time other than winter is focused on road work, that your roads suffer due to the harsh winters, and that some roads are not getting as much attention as they have in the past. (Even here in Virginia, the state and localities have eliminated most mowing of medians and roadsides for economic savings.)
Now tomorrow (i.e., Friday), I’ll share the Go Ahead Honey It’s Gluten Free! roundup for this month’s theme, Make Me A Happy Camper. It’s a really nice mix of wonderful recipes suitable for camping, picnicking, hiking, etc.—you guys excelled as usual with your entries! But, first, let me share one more gfe recipe that works great for camping or cooking at home.
A little background … Mr. GFE and I had told Son that we didn’t want Mother’s Day or Father’s Day presents this year. Well, not things anyway. (We have too many things already.) With a 21-year old son, the thing we treasure most is spending time with him, so we asked him to join us camping one weekend this summer. We got our present on July 4th, which made that weekend even more celebratory than usual. Son typically likes to have “running buddies,” so he had a bunch of friends join him.
He asked me to bring lots of food. “Kids” of that age tend to eat a lot of snack foods, but not too many real meals. So while we did enjoy my alternative Cookie S’mores for dessert one night, I purposely planned to have substantial meals every evening for the crew.
As I gathered provisions for the weekend, I had perused the contents of my freezer. When I first spied the London Broil cut, I almost dismissed it as a dinner possibility. I don’t usually think of London Broil as camping food, but I thought about it a minute because the cut was very large and finally decided it would be a great choice for feeding the masses. Plus, I could put the meat in the cooler frozen and it would help keep the other contents cold.
I mixed up the marinade in a glass jar before we left home and stored that in the cooler, too. Once we arrived at our property, I placed the London Broil in a plastic bag and covered it with marinade. (Occasionally I’d flip the bag to ensure the meat was evenly marinated. You can read the additional directions in the recipe below.)
London Broil or flank steak is another one of those meats you can usually get at a great discount (like pork butt, also known as Boston Butt, for my Fabulous Pork Butt (Pulled Pork)) and while the price of the piece of meat still can seem costly, the cost per serving ends up being a bargain. London Broil cuts frequently go on sale for 50% off at my local store. I usually buy one or two and freeze them for when the mood strikes.
London Broil is so flavorful that it’s great served a variety of ways: traditional, as a cold and slightly chewy protein snack (think beef jerky), or as a nice topping for a robust salad. I’ve used the following recipe many times. It’s one I came up with by taking various recipes and “mixing” and “matching” … combining my favorite ingredients from each into a single recipe.
The resulting London Broil is really good. Like the pork butt, it’s another simple, naturally gluten-free (i.e., gfe) dish that can make you look like a rock star in the kitchen—even if that “kitchen” consists of built-in counters, a cooler, a stove, and a grill, all nestled in the middle of trees overlooking the river. 😉
This lovely London Broil fed nine of us (with side dishes as well, of course) and everyone enjoyed it. There was even some left over to make delicious steak hash for breakfast. Check out this gfe recipe and a photo below … hot off the grill for you!
As you’ll see, this is just a regular recipe made gluten-free by using gluten-free soy sauce and gluten-free Worcestershire sauce (which is not readily available if you’re in Canada, it seems so be extra cautious regarding this ingredient if you’re in Canada). So once again, this recipe is another example of following the gfe approach!
More Delicious Gluten-Free London Broil Recipes
~ Chimichurri London Broil from Mashup Mom
~ Grilled and Marinated London Broil from Allergy Free Alaska
~ London Broil with Balsamic Marinade from Primal Palate
Gluten-Free Lovely London Broil Recipe
Lovely London Broil is a very special meal and can be made at home or when camping. Making it gluten free only requires ensuring that you use the gf version of ingredients like soy sauce. You can prepare London Broil to medium doneness, but you don't want to cook it any longer than that as it will be dry and tough. Even at medium rare, or medium, remember that the meat continues cooking for a bit after it's removed from heat, so remove from heat before it appears done. *If you don't eat soy at all, you can make your own substitute or use Coconut Aminos. Per the AllRecipes site you can substitute Worcestershire sauce mixed with water for soy sauce. So skip the soy sauce if you like and use the substitute of your choice---2 more tbsp of Worcestershire sauce plus 1 tbsp water or Coconut Aminos. I've also mentioned this recipe for homemade soy sauce before, but be sure you use gluten-free and soy-free bouillon if you make it.Lovely London Broil (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
H.Peter says
What a trip! Lobster meals, so many different places… unreal. Can’t wait for images.
Shirley says
Peter–Our first lunch in the Bar Harbor area was a big lobster we shared. 🙂 Those restaurants were they are steaming them right beside the road really draw you in! As soon as I get my pics to download frm my new camera without an error, I’ll share. I’m not panicking … yet.
Shirley
V-Grrrl says
I love New England. My sister lives in Maine. She always says, “We have two seasons: winter and Fourth of July.” : )
I’m glad you had a great trip and arrived home safely.
Shirley says
Hey, V–Wondering what part of Maine your sister is in. We did a fairly good job covering the state this time … sometimes not by choice (with the change in plans due to rain, plus Google directions aren’t always good it seems). I’ve heard that comment about the north, too, V. Both are very applicable I think. We were wearing most of our layers as we traveled those bad roads. LOL
Thanks so much for the kind words on our return. I have to admit we had more scary situations than are typical for our trips. (Like the time the lady never saw us and came right into our lane at a traffic circle … thank goodness for that low median and nobody in the next lane.)
Shirley
Heather @CeliacFamily says
What a trip! Sounds like it was highly successful. Look forward to hearing about all the GF food you found along the way.
Shirley says
Hi Heather–Thanks! I’ll be sharing soon. I think I had the best food I’ve ever had on our motorcycle trips. We were committed to eating well and no fast food (well, except for that last day when we did intersates and getting home was top priority). I had done some prior research, too, and we also got some excellent restaurant recommendations along the way. 🙂
Shirley
Lauren says
Sound like you had an amazing trip =D. I’m sure the pictures will be gorgeous!!
Shirley says
Hey Lauren–Thank you! Well, we’ll see on the pics … remember that most of them I take from the back of the bike and I was operating a brand spanking new camera (purchased the night before we left … can you say procrastination? LOL). I still will be looking for a digital camera that takes the shot the instant you push the button. The old 35 mm non-digital was so good in that regard.
Shirley
Nance says
Welcome back! My boys love London Broil, and my marinade recipe is similar to yours. I also add chopped jalapeno if I have some fresh, or failing that, some red pepper flakes. We enjoy that hit of spicy heat.
Shirley says
Hi Nance–Thanks for the welcome! It’s nice to be home. Trips are always exhilirating, but make you appreciate home, too.
Either of your suggestions for the London Broil sound good! I keep the crushed red pepper flakes on hand, so I’ll definitely try them next time. 🙂
Shirley
noble pig says
Wow, what a trip it sounds like a great time with some great food!
Shirley says
Hi Cathy!–It was an awesome trip (the little “annoyances” are much less bothersome in hindsight LOL)! And, some of meals were phenomenal–we really did well with those! 🙂 Will share soon. Just had to get my GAHIGF Make Me A Happy Camper post up first. 😉
Shirley
Christine says
I don’t actually eat beef but if I were to make it for my husband, he would be very happy.
Thanks again for hosting July’s GAHIGF! I especially like our camping trip adventure! 🙂
Shirley says
Hey, Christine–I’d like to see the statistics on how many more men enjoy beef than women. My husband just loves it. I could live on chicken and fish myself, but I do enjoy this London Broil from time to time.
I’m so glad you and so many others enjoyed GAHIGF. It took us all to make it work so well!
Shirley
Kristia@FamilyBalanceSheet says
That billboard is a hoot.
The steak looks great. Thanks for linking up to my summer grilling exchange.
Shirley says
Hi Kristia–Welcome to gfe! 🙂 LOL re: the billboard … I know! We saw it when on the interstate for a short while and it made me wish I could see the others in the series. 😉
Thanks on the London Broil! Will definitely try to remember to link up to your exchange each week. Summer grilling is just right with our current heat. Last night I grilled veggies to go along with our pork chops. There’s just no way I want to turn on the oven right now.
Shirley
Mary says
I recommend coconut aminos as an excellent sub for soy sauce. It’s made by a company called Coconut Secret. I’ve used it in all kinds of dishes, including stir fry.
Shirley says
Hi Mary–It looks like you are new here–welcome to gfe! 🙂 And thanks so much for your recommendation. Others highly recommend the coconut aminos, too. I love the idea of them, but haven’t found them locally yet and I don’t do much ordering online. I hope to get the product soon though as I don’t like using even a little bit of soy. When I mixed my marinade today, I actually skipped the soy sauce as I didn’t have any. I used balsamic vinegar and maple syrup instead. Still turned out great!
Shirley